


An Accident in Time

by RainLily13



Series: Moments in Time [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Comfort/Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Gen, Humor, Post Episode: s04e13 Journey's End, Pre Episode: s04e14 The Next Doctor, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-30
Updated: 2013-09-07
Packaged: 2017-12-16 15:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/863410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainLily13/pseuds/RainLily13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Challenge fic from ArmyWife22079: He was lost. She was cast away. They found each other when she dropped in on him quite literally. Enter a bit of him pushing her and her pushing back, they end up growing closer than they’d expect to and the rest, as they say, was history. Slight Ten/Kagome at the very end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArmyWife22079](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=ArmyWife22079).



> _Haven't started up a new fic in quite a while. Almost over a year or so, really. Blame my lovely friend, muse, and beta,ArmyWife22079on for she was the one who gave me a challenge I couldn't possibly refuse. Or thank her, if you like this. I spent the last two months working on this ficlet ;)_  
> 
>  
> 
> _Here's the challenge: Comfort/Angst fic in which Kagome needs to get back to the Feudal Era after Inuyasha sent her home without the shards. Must be after Rose, Martha, and Donna ("Journey's End"), but before "End of Time" Special. Use of "Allons-y" a must._
> 
>  
> 
> _Oh, and she asked for a one-shot, but I guess the writer's spirit in me doesn't like length constraints. ^^; Meaning, way longer than a one-shot, so there's like 11 chapters in this, including the prologue and the epilogue. I'd say sorry, but I'm kinda not since I had too much fun writing and I doubt there'll be any complaints (or at least I hope there won't)._
> 
>  
> 
> _Anyway, read, review, and as always, enjoy! This is for you, Amanda! XD_
> 
>  
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** Trust me, if I owned either Inuyasha or Doctor Who, you would know.

It wasn't every day that some small girl dropped in on him. Literally. Hands hovering over the unmoving lump clad in what looked to be 16th century Japanese garb currently  _napping_  in his lap, his mind flailed a bit.

Honestly, one moment he was prepping the TARDIS for another trip—somewhere, anywhere, someplace new without past memories threatening to overwhelm him when, bam—there she fell. Just a bit over five feet of pink and black made up of four lightly tanned limbs and long, dark hair. She seemed human by the looks of it, but really, who knew? Can't judge a book by its cover and all that.

"Uh." Shifting uncomfortably under the weight against his lap, he cleared his throat at the sight of the girl's eyes fluttering open, faintly noting the peeks of blue he was able to spot.

His given response was positively and equally eloquent. "Ngh."

"What?"

" _Ngh._ Where  _am_  I?"

The Doctor blinked. And stared. And then blinked some more before the realization mingling with nostalgia hit him full force. He let out moan.

"Oh, no, not  _again."_

It took a moment, just a beat, before the guilt-laden grief kicked in.  _Donna. Donna Noble._  The panic followed swiftly.  _No, no, not again. Is it again? It can't be again._

Swallowing, his face went blank save for the slight burrow of his eyebrows. His eyes shut as he took a deep, shuddering breath before cracking them open to stare at the face of his new passenger.

_Could it be a coincidence?_

* * *

Today was just one of those days that would end with her wishing she had never left the comfort of her room that fateful fucking day on her fifteenth birthday, Kagome just knew it.

The day had begun fine, of course it did, they always did, right up until Inuyasha and she would start arguing. But, no, that was the norm for the most part. Tensions were at its highest what with the final battle with Naraku looming over their heads, so naturally their tempers were easily snapped. Naraku had most of the jewel shards, only a paltry few left in Kagome's care, and it felt as if they were only waiting for the other shoe to drop—or rather, the spider hanyou himself to drop in.

But that day was different. Something went wrong. Something had  _change_ , and maybe it had changed days, who knew how many exactly, before then _._  Inuyasha was colder than usual… more distant, more prone to snap—at Shippo, at Miroku, at her, even at Sango and Kirara.

Honestly though, she should have realized something was  _terribly_  wrong when Inuyasha suggested she take a trip home. He was being rational about it all, calm though still distant as he explained that he noticed she was low on supplies, and who knew when Naraku was going to attack or when they'd be able to return to Edo and restock.

It was such a surprise that she wasn't terribly shocked when, right as she stood by the lip of the well and frozen under Inuyasha's palms as he looked down at her with those sad, yet determined puppy eyes of his, he told her in the most serious voice she had ever heard come from his lips that, " _You don't belong here. Go home, because you'll just die. You're weak, too weak, and I can't protect you—not anymore. I'm hurting you, I know, and I'm sorry for that—for causing you pain—but I'm not sorry for this. Not if it saves your life."_

No; Kagome  _was_  stunned, yes, but deep inside she really wasn't  _shocked_ per say at his actions—at him trying to send her away. It wasn't the first time, and she would be fooling herself if she thought it'd be the last. She was, however, too blown away to fight against Inuyasha as he snapped the jewel shards from her neck with a sharp claw and—after one of his hands had cradled her cheek for what was meant to be the final time, thumb swiping over her cheekbone—the other hand shoved her.

If anything, it was Inuyasha himself and his methods that stunned her. He was so calm, so determined and calculated. This wasn't a spur of the moment decision—a reaction to some surge of a need to protect her. This wasn't provoked by anything she could think of, really. He had  _planned_ this, and she never even had a clue. It was so unlike him, so unexpected—she was completely  _blindsided_. And even if she wasn't too stunned to react, she never would have expected the physical force he used to send her home.

And as she fell back into the well, the sensation of the free-fall snapping out of her shock, fury and vexation filled her veins as a curse sat waiting on the tip of her tongue because  _oh my fucking God, how many times does he have to do this? Hasn't it gone through that thick skull of his that pushing me into the well without the shards isn't enough to hold me back_?

But it was then as she fell that she realized something was off. Her descent through the portal was usually accompanied by wisps of swirling pink particles and a tingling sensation that flushed through her veins, energy she had assumed that came from the jewel. And in this trip, they were present.

But the addition of gold particles mingling with the pink and the compressive feeling as if being squeezed through a hole not quite big enough was new, and not a particularly good new at that.

So, after being put through a good few minutes of  _that_ particular sensation, she felt that she was completely justified of what she said when she found herself dumped in some random man's lap.

* * *

The young woman's first coherent words to him were: "Why am I sitting in your lap?"

No, "Who are you?" No, "Where am I?" No screams. No gasping or panicking or accusations. Just: "Why am I sitting in your lap?" asked in a polite tone that held the mere hint of dazed curiosity and the even fainter hint of irritation. Honestly though, it was borderline nonchalant if he had to describe it.

His mind, still flailing, only flailed some more at that insight.

 _Well,_ the Doctor thought distantly, _that is certainly a switch but two can play at that game._  "I was wondering the same thing," he replied in his best leveled voice, all the while freaking out and wondering,  _who are you, who are you, who are you? How did you get here? This is not possible, no, not possible at all. Completely improbable and absolutely unexpected and_ _ **not supposed to happen**_ _!_

"Ah," was all she said in return for the moment, wide blue eyes blinking as she took in the interior of his TARDIS, as if she didn't notice where she was just until then, all the while  _not removing herself from his lap_. "I was really hoping you'd know…" she mumbled, before she stiffened suddenly,  _which made him stiffen as well_ , until she asked: "You're not, like, evil, right? Not going to kill me?"

His mind whimpered, but he was pretty sure he did a good job of not showing his impending mental breakdown. "Er, no. Wasn't planning on it, really," he told her, though honestly, all he wanted to do was revert to snark and say, " _Oh, don't you look comfortable? Make yourself at home, really, don't mind me. Stay as long as you'd like."_

But he remained silent as the woman relaxed, flashing him a sheepish smile. "Oh, good, that's a relief," and he suddenly had the random urge to break down in hysterical laughter—and not the good kind.

Because really, she was just  _trusting_ him—this little human woman, a girl, really, compared to him, was just  _trusting_ his word that he wasn't going to kill her when she had literally just landed on him thirty seconds ago. What in the world was wrong with humans? Had they no sense of survival? How was it that they could survive to the ends of the universe?

With a dark look and a low, dangerous voice just for effect to scare a little bit of survival instinct into her—honestly, it might save her life in the long run to be more wary—he ducked his head, looming into her personal space. Noses nearly touching, he stared directly into her eyes. "You  _do_ realize that doesn't mean I won't  _hurt_  you. You're trespassing on  _my_  ship; for all I know you're here to hurt me—ill intentions and all that. Who's to say I don't drag you off and lock you up right now? Interrogate you?" With what he hoped was a twisted smirk, his voice dropped even lower. "Maybe even torture you?"

But no, that cheeky little human just cocked an eyebrow at him, still casually occupying his lap as if she belonged there, and shot back with a, "Then what are you waiting for?" Taking a dainty finger, she firmly poked his pinstripe-clad shoulder and pushed him back, and he reigned in the urge pout and rub at the tingling point of contact. She then rolled her eyes, as if she  _knew_ , and shrugged at him before crossing her arms. "I can tell you're not going to hurt me."

For some reason, that assumption set him off—made him snap. Who was  _she_ , this human with her inferior intelligence and a distressingly pitiable lack of self-preservation, to presume that she  _knew_ him. He was a killer—he had wiped out his own people and was the cause of a litany of deaths along with numerous others.

He was the reason the woman he loved was trapped in another universe with a metacrisis clone of himself whom had committed genocide; he was the reason his best friend had to be stripped of all memories of their adventures just so that her mind wouldn't have  _burned_ ; he was the reason he turned a  _doctor_ of all things, a person meant to help and heal, into a soldier ready to annihilate the whole planet with its six billion plus residents if only to save the universe.

Just because he didn't look dangerous; just because he didn't carry a weapon didn't mean he wasn't capable of causing irreparable harm—of causing deaths. No, he just inspired others to do the dirty work for him. He all but destroyed everything he touched and held dear, his tainted presence infecting his companions with its incurable disease.

Hands clenching around the grips of his jump seat at his sides, his jaw clenched as he scowled down at the dark-haired girl. "You have no idea how capable I am of doing just that," he growled darkly, no longer pretending.

Yet, she just stared at him, searching, and he faintly noticed the look to her face—to her  _eyes_ , and he realized with abrupt intrigue _, Oh, wait a tic, maybe she's not just your run-of-the-mill human after all_ , which he found to be proven true when she responded.

"Oh, probably, I never said you weren't 'capable'," she said, waving him off. Then, she looked him in the eye, a peculiar look to her gaze as she stared and a weary, not-quite smile playing at her lips as she continued in a softened murmur. "But you  _won't_ , because however dark your aura may be, it isn't  _evil._ "

The Doctor blinked, dark eyes widening and his mind skidding to a halt because out of all things he didn't expect  _that_.

_Oh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Sooo, what do you all think?_
> 
>  
> 
> _I had way, way, way too much fun writing the Doctor's POV in all of this. Way too much fun. XD It's like trying to mimic the thought process of a kid on a sugar-rush—you now, if the kid was a genius haha._
> 
>  
> 
> _Anyway, I hope you all like it. This should have regular updates, once a week, on Saturdays. Warning, though, that the chapters won't be as long as the one's I'm used to writing. They'll be no less than 1,000 words I think, and no more than 2,000. Barring any hiccups anyway, as while this is all written, I'm still combing over the majority to do some editing._
> 
>  
> 
> _Anyway, tell me what you think!_


	2. The Doctor (AKA The Muttering Madalien)

"My aura?"

Kagome looked back at the man she was currently lounging on, picking up on the interest mixed with curiosity. "Yep."

She watched as his two brown eyebrows dipped, furrowing in concentration. His soft brown gaze shifted idly to the ceiling. "Sensitive and aware, but you're not telepathic though," he muttered under his breath. "Psychic? No, that's not it either…"

As he mumbled to himself, Kagome tuned out from the nonsensical babble to take another sweeping look of the room. "So, where am I anyway?"

"My ship," the man said, only pausing for a moment in his mutterings to give her an offhand answer before going on.

 _Ship?_  Kagome thought, unconsciously mouthing the word. "It's not like any ship I've seen before…" she murmured, shifting to peer at the large tube in the middle, surrounded by some sort of console that was fitted with various levers, switches, buttons, and other odds and ends.  _Definitely not in the Feudal Era anymore though…_

"Right, well, you seem to be well enough now. Can you get off me, or do you need another moment?"

Turning, Kagome stared at the man. "You're a bit rude, aren't you?" she muttered.

He blinked, as if didn't even realize, before he gave her a cheery smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Ah, that's me. Rude and not ginger."

She stared. "Right…"

Not quite understanding him, Kagome only nodded slowly with raised eyebrows and made a move to slide off his pinstriped-clad lap. She staggered a bit when she put her feet to the ground, legs a bit weak, and the man's hands shot out to steady her. Her own hands grasped at his elbows so she didn't make a face plant. "Thanks," she muttered, cheeks flushing in embarrassment, and she cleared her throat. Her eyes flickered up to the man's amused face and his crinkled, dancing brown eyes. "Trip here must have taken a bit out of me…" and she pulled away, her hands sliding down his forearms and her fingers brushing against his own before she stepped away.

Once their fingers swept against bare skin, a shock passed through and they jerked back from each other as if electrocuted. Confused, Kagome watched as the man stared at his hands, her own still tingling. "Oh, that  _tickled_ ," he mused, blinking in bemusement.

Before Kagome could even react, the man's hands were slipping into his pockets and he had pulled out some slim, silver device in the shape of a thick pen and decked out with a blue fixture at the end. She started when he pointed it at her, a long, lean finger pressed against the button, and a bright blue light blinded her vision while whirring sounded in her ears.

The man froze suddenly and the blue light vanished, leaving Kagome to blink out the spots. "Oh," he suddenly uttered. " _Oh_. What is  _this_?" Eyes still unfocused, she watched silently as he shook his head quickly. "No, no that doesn't…" he trailed off, eyes lingering across her skin, and if Kagome didn't know better, she would have taken that stare to mean something akin to desire—desire for  _her_ —but she  _did_ know better.

That wasn't a stare of a red-blooded man; it was the stare of a scientist with a puzzle wrapped up in a big, pretty red bow presented right before him.

The man cleared his throat suddenly. "That doesn't matter," he mumbled, whirling on the spot and going to the console. "When and where?" he demanded, louder than what was necessary.

Kagome blinked, the question and his sudden change in disposition throwing her off. "Excuse me?"

The man shot her an exasperated look border-lining pitying from over his shoulder. His voice was a slow as his stare was patronizing. "I have to take you back wherever you came from, of course. You can't just stay here, can you?" he said as if it was obvious.

Affronted, Kagome sniffed, straightening. "Fine, whatever. Village of Edo, Japan, but why do you need to know when?" she asked, wanting to know.

But he only just waved her off. "Just tell me already," he said impatiently.

Kagome huffed, crossing her arms.  _"Really rude,"_ she muttered under her breath, but relented. "May 3rd, 1502 then, please and thank you." Sarcasm was practically dripping from her tone. "And who  _are_ you, anyway?"

"Call me the Doctor," he replied absently.

"The Doctor?" Kagome repeated blankly, crossed arms faltering in confusion. "Doctor  _who_?"

"Just the Doctor," he said automatically as he started working the controls. He paused for a bit before asking, "And you?" as if he'd only just remembered to ask as well.

She rolled her eyes. "Kagome," she replied, and the man nodded absently. She wondered if he even actually heard.

He had already twisted some green, sparkling roller on the console and was in mid-pull of a lever before he froze. "Wait, what?" he squeaked, turning to her.

Kagome shot him an expectant look. "Well? Come on then, take me back," she prompted, flicking a hand in a 'hurry it up' gesture.

"But," the Doctor halted helplessly, staring at her as if she had just gone off and grown another head. He studied her closely, face fixed with such an intense expression, as if he was grasping for answers that just weren't there. "That's not right," he murmured slowly.

Staring back, Kagome scrunched her nose at him. "What d'you mean?"

The Doctor didn't answer—instead, he strode over to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned in. Kagome squeaked at the sudden invasion of space and meant to move back but found that his hands held her still, unexpectedly strong for someone of his lean stature. She scowled then, exchanging her surprise for irritation.

Opening her mouth, she barked out a protest, "Oi, what ar—!" before stopped short when the man took a strand of hair and gave a delicate sniff. Her mind stuttered at the sight.  _What in the hell…?_ "A-are you  _sniffing_ me?" she stammered out, eyes wide.

"Yes, yes I am," the man replied casually. "Now shush for a moment," and because Kagome didn't really know how to react to that, to any of it really, she acquiesced. Dropping her hair, the Doctor took her arm next and sniffed at her sleeve, eyes narrowing in thought.

Kagome squawked in disbelief as he licked the back of her hand.

When she yanked to get her hand back, he let her take it without protest. Gaping at him as he smacked his lips, eyes squinted in concentration and a grimace on his lips, Kagome blinked as he smiled suddenly and straightened. Leaning back on his heels, he stared down at her, his face the picture of triumph.

"To answer your earlier question, I  _meant_ that despite the authentic early-sixteenth century clothing you're wearing—which to be honest, I had originally thought to be just incredibly well-preserved—you have impeccable hygiene for someone living in that time. You obviously bathe regularly and your teeth are not only intact, but they are straight and white—not characteristic of a person of that time."

As he spoke he paced around her, eyeing her up and down, taking her stunned expression with delight as he charged on.

"I can smell the vanilla-lavender shampoo in your hair and tasted the chemicals of the apple and pear scented wash you used, which, I might add, is a disgusting scent and the taste of the extract is horrible—the pear I mean, apples are lovely." As he rambled, he had reached over to tug a strand of her hair. "The vanilla-lavender wouldn't be my first choice, but you're human and a female, so what can you do?"

Kagome leveled him with an outraged glare at that, making him wince.

"Ah, that was rude, wasn't it? Sorry," he said, and though he was sheepish he didn't really seem to actually  _mean_ the apology. "In any case, shampoo wasn't even invented until the 1700s in the Mughal Empire, never mind that the chemicals used in your products puts them to be in the early twenty-first century, so."

He turned to her, a stern expression on his face and his arms crossed, "Imagine my confusion when you ask me to take you to a time period that is approximately five hundred years before your own? Somewhere in the 2002 region, I'd wager."

Kagome stared at him, mouth slack. She finally found her voice after a moment. "Don't you need to breathe?" she finally demanded.

His expression wavered at her reaction, but he recovered easily enough. "Respiratory bypass system," he said airily, as if that explained everything and was no big deal.

Kagome took that as a 'not as much as you' and filed that away to be dumbfounded at for another time. "And…you got all of that by a couple of sniffs and a lick?"

The brunet gave her a smile that was too smug for her tastes, all but pouncing on the slightest hint of wonder he detected coloring her tone. "Impressive, isn't it?"

Oh, he was practically  _preening_.

So, Kagome snorted in reply, not wanting to give him any satisfaction. "Creepy, is more like it," she shot back dryly, taking sadistic pleasure when his face fell. "What are you, a demon?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at that. "Oh,  _now_ I'm  _really_ interested," he murmured, eying her closely.

Kagome leaned back on instinct. "Oi, no more sniffing or licking!" she warned him.

Practically giggling, he leaned away. "Not a demon, me. Just an alien. Superior Time Lord biology at your service," he told her with grandiosity.

"Alien," Kagome muttered faintly, stunned. "You're an  _alien_ …"

The Doctor gave her a wide grin and a succinct nod, and she had a feeling he was enjoying her shock.

Kagome pushed back the urge to whimper. Demons, she could handle; evil demons that spanned from grotesque, monstrous ogres and creatures beyond the imagination, to fox kits and two-tailed cats that could transform into something akin to flying lions.

But not once—never had she ever once thought that  _aliens_  existed.

That they  _could_ exist.

_Just what have I gotten myself into this time?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what do you think? Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! ^^ The licking/sniffing part was my favorite, hahah.
> 
> Till next week!
> 
> RainLily^^


	3. Stranded

Aliens. Aliens existed. Out in the stars, on some distant planet, this man was born. If there was one, then certainly there were others—whole civilizations on who knew how many other planets, there were  _people_.

And she had never known.

Except, now she did and _how utterly bizarre was that?_

Palming her face, Kagome rubbed at her eyes. "I shouldn't be surprised but I am…" she mused to herself, her voice a bit faint and weak.

The Doctor snickered.

Rolling her eyes, Kagome stalked past the snickering  _Time Lord_ , which was still hard to grasp, and she paced around the console, taking in the coral layout. Her hands traced along the railing as she passed before she paused to peer down what looked to be an endless hall. "So, alien right?" she said, eyes squinting. "Which makes this your spaceship?"

Hearing footsteps behind her, Kagome looked up and over her shoulder to see the Doctor sidle up next to her. "You could say that," he replied vaguely as he leaned into the railing, reaching over to give the coral strut beside him a fond pat. "Much more than your average ship though. She's called the TARDIS."

Kagome paused.  _Time Lord,_  she repeated silently. Turning to him fully with widened eyes, she stared at him. "Time Lord," she said out loud, all of it clicking into place. "You travel in space  _and_ time?"

His wide grin was all the answer she needed—the wagging eyebrows were just a touch too smug for her tastes. "Quick and clever," he praised, and before she could ask he continued with a not so little touch of pride, "And before you ask, it stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space—the TARDIS."

Rightfully stunned, Kagome leaned into the railing, shaking her head. "So not what I expected to happen when I woke up today," she huffed under her breath.

And of course, he heard her. "Where did you wake up? Or rather, when?"

Rolling her eyes, Kagome shot him a look. "I already told you."

He rolled his own eyes right back at her and threw in a scoff for good measure. "And I already told  _you_ why that's wrong."

Kagome turned to him fully, amusement lighting up her features. "And how would  _you_ know?"

Eyes narrowing and flashing in a way that said 'challenge accepted,' he rounded on her. "Because that would mean you're a time traveler. You're  _saturated_ in Atron particles, which only mean that you travel through time frequently, but that doesn't make any sense!" Throwing his hands up in the air, he stalked away and started pacing. "You're from the early twenty-first century—the technology is thousands of years away from breaking through even the most primitive forms of time travel and you obviously have nothing on you that could do the trick."

"Maybe I have a ship," Kagome said with a small grin.

The Doctor whirled on her in a flash of brown and blue pinstripes, his brown eyes wide and eager—the idea obviously hadn't even occur to him. " _Do_ you have a ship?"

_Like a puppy,_ Kagome thought, grin widening. "Nah," she answered cheekily.

His shoulders dropped. "Then  _how?_ " he demanded in a tone that was close to whining.

Kagome laughed and pinned him with a dry look. "And why should I tell you? I don't know you," she reminded him, and added with a grin, "And I think I like seeing you squirm."

The Doctor gaped at her. "I'm giving you a lift back! That's why! It's only polite."

Kagome let out an amused scoff, still grinning. "Oh, because you're the  _picture_  of polite, Mr. Rude and Not Ginger," she teased, enjoying the chastised look that crossed his face. Shaking her head, she approached the console once again and leaned down to peer closely at the implements that it made it up. As she poked at a rubber mallet her eyebrows furrowed, wondering what in the world its purpose was. "And besides, you were taking me home anyway. Quite adamant about it, really."

The Doctor blinked as if he had forgotten that and he shook his head absently. "Ah, you're right," he said, his disposition noticeably sober. He pushed from the railing, crossing over towards her and the console before he started fiddling with the controls once again. Rolling a wheel a few times, he reached for a lever and looked at her. "You're sure, though? 16th century, Japan's Feudal Era? Once I drop you off, that's it, I'm gone. No refunds or take backs."

Kagome's grin faltered at the drastic mood change but she nodded nonetheless, solemn. "Yeah, I'm sure," she murmured. A spark of anger flared within her. "Besides, I need to have a talk with a certain ex-best friend of mine about sending me off for what he thinks is 'my own good,' anyway," she muttered, her last few words mocking.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at that, but said nothing—likely not wanting to poke  _that_ bag of issues with a twenty foot stick. "Well, then, Allons-y," he said with mock-excitement, pulling the lever.

Kagome watched in rapt fascination as the green glow of the Time Rotor brightened as it plunged up and down, a raspy grating sound filling the room. The TARDIS rumbled, the floor shook under her feet, and Kagome caught the edge of the console when she stumbled. Looking over at the Doctor, she figured the rides were usually a little rough, judging by the faint smile on his face.

However, the piercing whistle that followed as well as the sputter of the Time Rotor and the flicker and dimming of its green glow was  _not_  normal.

"What?  _What?!_ "

As Kagome cringed, her hands flying to cover her ears out of instinct, the Doctor gritted through the pain in favor for frantically hovering around the console, pulling and twisting and jabbing in a flurry as he yelled in alarm and confusion. "No, no, no—don't do this to me, not  _now!_ What are you doing!"

"What's wrong? What's going on?" Kagome shouted over the whistling. "Are we crashing?!"

The Doctor's dark, wide eyes snapped up to her. "I don't know!" he exclaimed throwing his hands up before rushing towards a screen, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he typed. "Something's wrong, obviously, but why? She was working fine…" he trailed off, eyebrows furrowed. "Until she tried to travel… but that means…" He let out a groan as he typed some more before going back to the wheel, spinning it before pulling on a lever and plunging a rod in a steady motion. "Fine, fine, just give me a minute."

"Doctor?" Kagome yelled in concern.

Said alien grimaced. "You should probably hol—"

His warning came too late as the TARDIS lurched. Kagome tripped, tumbling to the ground, her shoulder slamming into the floor grating quite roughly. A pained cry tore from her lips and the room seemed to tilt; Kagome started rolling.

"Kagome!"

Blindly reaching out as she tumbled, Kagome felt a jolt of relief as she managed to snag a rung of the railing. She grasped at it frantically with her other hand and held on for dear life was swung about wildly in the air. Heart racing, lungs burning, and her right shoulder throbbing like hell, Kagome squinted through the pain and the shrill whistling to look for the Doctor.

Despite what was happening, a shock of amusement rushed through her to find him currently wrapped around the Time Rotor like a barnacle to a rock and staring at her worriedly. "Are you all right!?" he shouted at her.

Kagome let out a string of giggles tinged with just a touch of hysteria. "Just peachy," she replied after a moment, biting her lip to hold back any more giggling. "Y'know, just hanging around is all. And you? Having fun?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes in exasperation, but his lips were twitching. "You humans," he muttered fondly. "Laughing in the face of danger and chaos… It's not normal. Not quite sane, either, but where's the fun in that, eh?" He giggled to himself. "And who am I to judge?"

"What did you say?"

The Doctor grinned, peering around the rotor to see Kagome's face, flushed with exhilaration and all but grinning as well. "Oh, nothing!" he replied cheerfully loud enough for her to hear. "Just hang on tight and give it a mo'—the TARDIS will right herself soon enough!"

"Got it!" she replied. "I really hope you have some aspirin around here or something though, 'cause this sound is going to give me a major headache."

The Doctor winced in sympathy. "Yes, I do, sorry about that." The whistling tapered before Kagome could reply and the TARDIS lurched and righted itself. He winced when he heard a loud thud, the tell-tale sound of Kagome's body hitting the ground.

Gingerly sliding of the Time Rotor and leaping off, the Doctor rushed over to her side. He found Kagome lying on her back, arms stretched above her, fingers grazing the railing she had previously dangled from. Her eyes, a wide, slightly dazed blue that were fixed to the ceiling, flickered over to his hovering form. "Well, that was different."

"Are you hurt?" the Doctor asked seriously, his eyes scanning her. He dropped to his knees and reached out. "You didn't hit your head when you fell earlier, did you?"

Kagome felt fingers tangle themselves into her hair, pressing and feeling around her scalp. "No," she grunted, shaking her head before she let out a light groan; her ears were still ringing from the whistling earlier, and shaking her head only made it worse and had her stomach flipping with nausea. "I landed on my shoulder when I went down."

"Good—well, better," the Doctor corrected himself, pulling away. "No concussion, then. What of your shoulder?"

"Throbbing, but I've had worse," she mumbled and she held out her hands. "Help me up?"

Cool fingers wrapped around her wrists, her own finding his, and Kagome felt herself be pulled up. She stumbled as her feet tried to find balance and the Doctor wrapped an arm around her back for support before herding her towards to the jump seat.

Fingers slipped under her chin, tilting her face up, and she found the Doctor's eyes staring into hers. She accredited all the blame for her next words to her not being in her right mind because of the fall.

"I didn't notice before, but your eyes are sad—they make me sad too," she mumbled as she closed her own eyes, her face fixed in a grimace. "Really old too. Is that an alien thing?"

The Doctor froze. "What?" he whispered.

"They're pretty, don't get me wrong, but… You've seen a lot of bad things. I can tell." She let out another groan. "Ugh, my  _head,_ " she moaned, rubbing at her ears as she leaned her forehead against his shoulder.

Her words shook the Doctor from his thoughts. "Right, just give it a moment and it'll fade in a bit. Sit back and close your eyes and relax while I try to fix the TARDIS."

"A'right," she murmured, raising her head, "Need you to give me back my shoulders though, just saying," she added, not bothering to opening her eyes.

A startled cough escaped the Doctor's mouth and he yanked his hands back. "Ah, right, sorry," he mumbled awkwardly. Turning on his heel, he strode toward the console.

"What happened anyway?"

"Ah, well," the Doctor hedged as he returned to the screen and began typing. "Something went wrong with the TARDIS when I initiated travel, so I reversed it and sent us back to where we left. She's, well…" he trailed off, scratching at the back of his head. "For the lack of better words, she's not feeling well?"

Kagome stilled and cracked an eye open to peer at him. "She's alive," she murmured more to herself than him, and after her eye roamed the walls of the TARDIS her gaze found his once again. "You called her a she, talk about her as if she was alive, which explains why I can sense…  _something_ …" She trailed off, choosing to ignore his intrigued look. "I guess it would make sense that she could get sick in her own way…"

A satisfied look at her understanding formed on the Doctor's face. "That's about right."

"So…" Kagome drew out in thought, "She what, needs a little rest?"

The Doctor nodded decisively. "Exactly. It's nothing serious, just the sniffles you could call it. She's probably had it long before I noticed, and this is just the worse of it. Give her a bit, two days, four top, and she'll be as good as new. Weeeell," he recanted, "After I do a bit of jiggery pokery with a couple of wires, and check on some fuses of course, but other than that," he said, trailing off and giving a shrug. "Either way, we'll be stuck in here for a bit, won't let us out as she's quarantined herself."

Kagome cracked her other eye open. "Two days?" she repeated blankly. "What are we going to do for two days?"

The Doctor waved her off her concerns, and she wasn't too reassured when he suppressed what she thought to be a smile at something she obviously didn't know. "I wouldn't worry about being bored," he told her in a placating tone as he strode to her side, grasping her elbow in a gesture for her to stand. "There's a lot more to the TARDIS than what meets the eye, but first things first, let's get you to the med bay to check out your shoulder."

Kagome blinked as she let herself be lead down a hall.

"You have a med bay in here?"


	4. Passing the Time

When the Doctor led her into a room filled with medical instruments she recognized and plenty of others she was sure belonged on a sci-fi show, she was impressed. "You have a med bay in here," she had mumbled.

The room was rather large and colored with muted tones of gold and tan similar to those in the console room, bordered with soft green instead of the sterile white like she half-expected it to be, which, to be honest, made it a bit more comfortable. It was almost like an actual examination room, with various cabinets and a counter with a sink to the side along the walls and the usual doctor's and patient's seats in the middle. It was the additions like the moderate sized computer screen on a stand accompanied by a keyboard and the unfamiliar instruments hung around it that threw her off.

Kagome was gently led to the seat and told to lay back and relax as the Doctor plucked a long rod from his selection of tools. "Just to x-ray your shoulder—just in case," he explained, patiently waiting for her to give him permission to proceed. After a nod from her, he began to wave it over her, scanning, before hanging the rod and turning to the computer screen. The computer screen itself was something Kagome couldn't even begin to understand, as instead of something resembling letters she only saw a sequence of intricate circles scroll across display.

As if picking up on her thoughts, the Doctor's eyes flickered towards her, followed her gaze to the screen, and allowed his lips to twitch into a small smile even though he looked a tinge uncomfortable. "That's Gallifreyan—my language from where I'm from," he offered.

"Ah," she murmured in reply. The look on his face suggested that was all he would say on the subject as of right now and her curiosity on where he came from wouldn't be appreciated. "What does it say?" she asked instead, squashing her rising curiosity.

His eyes flickering back to the screen, he straightened. "Nothing fractured or torn—you'll probably just have bruising." The Doctor pushed his seat back and bent over, opening and rummaging through the top drawer of the stand the monitor was propped on. Pulling out a bottle, he rattled it and popped it open, shaking it until two pills came out. "For the pain," he explained as he held it out. "And for your headache. It's like aspirin, but more advanced since it was created centuries after your time."

Kagome held a palm out and let him deposit the pills, glancing at them hesitantly. "There won't be any weird side effects, right? Like… growing a third arm or something?"

Rolling his eyes, lips twitching, the Doctor produced a cup from nowhere and offered it. "Of course not," he admonished.

Kagome didn't quite hear him because she was staring at the cup of water blankly. "Uh…"

The Doctor blinked, before coughing sheepishly. "The TARDIS," he offered by way of explanation, and when he realized that didn't actually do the trick as her face only showed more confusion, he explained further. "Like you said, she's alive, or sentient you could say, and she sometimes provides what I need."

There were still so many questions running through Kagome's mind that it only made her head throb worse so she decided to push them back, ignore it, and just go with the flow. "Right, thanks," she murmured, taking the cup and drowning it with the pills. Instantly, she felt the pains of her head and her shoulder relenting. "Oh." She blinked. "That was quick."

The Doctor gave her a quick nod and stood," Like I said, advanced medicine. I have to go tend to the TARDIS now, so I can leave you here if you want to rest for a bit, or I can take you to the Library room? Or the Media room?"

"Library room, please," she replied immediately. The fact that she didn't even think to question the presence of such a room spoke much; whether it was of her lack of sanity or her ability to adjust, she wasn't quite sure. But as she jumped off the seat and let him lead her out of the med bay, she did say one more thing: "The TARDIS must be pretty big if you have rooms for things like a Library and a Media room."

The way his lips twitched into a sort of sly grin and the vague shrug he gave her didn't really comfort her, nor did his reply. "Depends on your definition of big, really."

She still didn't get what he meant by that, even hours later. She did, however, allow herself to enjoy the Harry Potter books that had yet to come out in her time as she cracked open  _Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix_  and kicked back on a rather comfy bean bag.

* * *

If Kagome was to be honest with herself, she was rather surprised that the Doctor let her have the amount of free reign that she did to explore the TARDIS. He was certainly right though; there was so much to explore and discover on his ship that she was never bored. In addition to the Library and Media room, the latter of which filled with a large flat screen TV with any and possibly every channel imaginable on and off Earth and the comfiest couch she ever had the pleasure to sit in, there was also a garden that neared the size of a small forest, a pool (with  _settings_ ), and she had even found a room dedicated to jars upon jars of these colorful candies called Jelly Babies.

When she mentioned that last one to the Doctor, he had stared at her in outraged disbelief and for a moment she thought she was in trouble. That is, until he stomped his foot and glared at the walls with the biggest pout ever as he let out a whine. "You let a complete  _stranger_ in there after locking me out for  _years_?"

Suffice to say, she was really starting to like the TARDIS.

In any case, when the Doctor wasn't working on the TARDIS or leaving her to her own devices, he was all but wheedling her with questions about her life and who she was and where she was from. She found him to be easy to talk to, and it didn't take long for her to relent and let him know that she was actually from Tokyo, Japan, 2002, that she lived on a shrine, and was just a university student studying history.

Aside from that, she kept her lips sealed in a smirk as he tried and failed to get information on what she was doing in Feudal Japan, how she got there, and why.

He did however manage to figure out that she was a priestess when she mentioned the shrine, connecting it with her ability to sense auras and giving her a windy lecture of his knowledge of Shintoism, but that was the extent of it to her knowledge. Whether or not he knew more or he wanted it admitted from her own lips, she didn't know, but as he knew his history it wouldn't surprise her.

She did get to find out more about him, apart from the obvious that he likes to hear his own voice, he hates pears, his tendency to ramble and wander off the subject, and that he has the personality of a little kid on a sugar high when he didn't slip into those dark, depressive, and contemplative moods he more often did than not. Like, the fact that he was actually over nine hundred years old.

"Seriously?" Kagome said when she found out, only moderately surprised and impressed. They were sitting in the kitchen drinking tea on what was the second day and it was somewhere in the late morning.

The Time Lord nodded, looking a bit disappointed when that was all the reaction he got from her. "That's it?" he asked after a moment, when she didn't go on a spiel of how that's impossible, or comment that he looked good for his age, or anything at all really. He had a really good line prepared for the "looking good for his age" one, his favorite actually: " _I moisturize."_

But Kagome just shrugged. "I've met demons older than you, y'know," she eventually replied.

The Doctor leaned forward in his chair, setting down his cup of tea. "Really? I've never actually met a demon before, if you can imagine. Heard of 'em—it's on my bucket list of course, but I haven't gotten around to it just yet."

Kagome snorted in amusement. His  _bucket list_. Meeting  _demons_ was on his  _bucket list_.

The Doctor gave her a wide grin and he wagged his eyebrows at her. "So how about this: a story for a story to pass the time?"


	5. To Go or Not to Go

In the end, it took about three days for the TARDIS to eradicate her 'case of the sniffles.'

Kagome was actually a bit…disappointed and sad that soon, she would be back in the Feudal Era never to see the Doctor again. It was so… nice. To be free from the tension weighing down on her, the responsibility of the shards, the impending doom as the threat of battle loomed over her and her friends, and worst of all, the constant fear of next time being it; the fight that tears their family apart—the one in which not everyone gets to come back home after.

It was refreshing to be free of all that and it swung a wild punch of guilt to her gut just thinking about it because, as far as she knew, in the three days that she spent relaxing, sharing stories, and discovering that there was life beyond Earth, they could already be fighting Naraku. They could honestly be dying and what did that say about her? The person who brought the damn Shikon Jewel back into the Feudal Era in the first place?

She didn't want to know, honestly, and she tried her damnedest not to give it much thought. It worked for the most part but she had her moments, glutton for punishment that she was.

She had only just changed out of the pajamas the TARDIS so kindly provided her and back into her priestess outfit—sans the haori as she'd taken to just wearing a simple white tank top— after having breakfast when she was told the news.

"TARDIS is back on and running," the Doctor told her just as she stepped into the console room.

"Well, that's good news, isn't it?" Kagome replied, leaning against a coral strut, watching as he busied himself at the controls.

The Doctor nodded, a corner of his lips quirked. "That's always good news."

Kagome patted the guard railing beside her. "She feels better, I can tell," she murmured, her eyebrows furrowed gently. "She's brighter, her aura. A beautiful, warm gold…" she trailed off as her fingers traced the railing.

The Doctor stared at her. "You can see her?" he asked quietly, a touch of wonder to his voice and an indecipherable light in his eyes.

Kagome nodded absently. "Like you said, she's alive. Didn't notice at first because I didn't think to notice, to look… didn't think a ship  _could_ be alive in the first place. But when you mentioned it, I couldn't help it, and she has an aura unlike anything I've seen. She's everywhere, in every single part of her, surrounding us…"

With a soft smile on her face, she looked up when the Doctor didn't answer only to see him staring at her thoughtfully. After a moment, he turned away and started fiddling with the controls once again. Twisting a switch, he regarded her with a hint of hesitation in his brown eyes. "Before I take you back… how about I throw in a side trip?"

Kagome paused and she regarded him with thinly veiled interest. "What  _kind_  of side trip?" she replied slowly, the curiosity too strong that she was unable to help herself.

The Doctor's lips twitched and he wagged his eyebrows. "Oh, you know," he said with barely suppressed excitement. "A little something to make your discovery that aliens do exist  _really_  hit home." And he gave a little shrug. "Something to say goodbye. Something to remember this by," he went on, not looking at her.

Kagome stared at him for a moment, speechless. "You'd—" She cut herself off and cleared her throat—it had gotten a bit too thick with eager awe for her tastes. Regardless, the Doctor picked up on it, if his little, smug grin and giggle meant anything. Tongue darting out to lick her lips, she went on in almost breathless wonder. "You'd take me to an  _alien planet?_ " Trying and likely failing to compose herself, she went on. "I mean, not that I need it to remember this. Seriously, how could I forget you? Forget all of this?" she told him, spreading her arms out in an all-encompassing gesture. "But  _really?_ "

For just a second, that had the Doctor giving her the smuggest, proudest look she had yet to see on her face, before all indications of smugness and pride were wiped away in favor for a nonchalant shrug as he turned back to the controls. "Sure. If you want." His eyes shifted, and he peered at her from the corner of his eyes. "Your choice, of course."

Kagome couldn't help but grin. "How can anyone say no to that?" she exclaimed, before faltering as she remembered.  _The Jewel. Naraku. Inuyasha. SangoMirokuShippo…_ Her shoulders drooping, she sighed and looked away, disappointed. "But… no, I shouldn't. I can't—I need to get back though…"

The Doctor let out an exasperated breath and threw his arms up, turning on her. "Honestly, you humans. And you especially!" he exclaimed, leveling her with a finger. "You're a time traveler for goodness sake!" Kagome's eyes widened, realizing where he was going, and she would have started grinning again if it weren't for his next words. "And you were  _so_  clever too…" he trailed off in wistful disappointment, tsk'ing and shaking his head.

Eye twitching, Kagome glared at him and she strode over to whap him against the arm, taking immense pleasure at his resulting "Ow!" and exaggerated pout. "Excuse me if my human sensibilities were a bit overwhelmed for a moment," she drawled, rolling her eyes. "I've only just discovered that aliens do exist a mere few days ago and one just offered to take me off of Earth to visit another  _planet_."

"Ah," the Doctor said, rubbing the arm she hit. "Well,  _technically_ …" he drew out, his voice hitching a little higher than normal as he grimaced a bit. "I've already took you off of Earth. You have been since you first got here, actually."

Kagome blinked as she eyed him incomprehensively and there was a moment of silence. The Doctor fidgeted under her stare. Finally, she spoke and bit out, "You  _what_?"

The Doctor winced at her blunt tone. Chuckling nervously, he moved around her and walked over to a two-panel door across the room. Giving her a sheepish smile, he threw the doors open. "Welcome to space?"

The sight outside knocked the breath out of her.

Earth.

It was Earth.

Right there in all its glory was the planet Earth; it was unmistakable, and it paled in comparison to the pictures she saw in school. Big and blue and green and staring her in the face, almost glowing ethereally. Words couldn't possibly describe it properly…

Kagome's knees buckled and her hand shot out to grasp the console and steady herself. Once she was relatively sure she could stand on her own, she took a shaky step forward. Then another, and another, and as the shakiness left, replaced by awe and amazement, she walked over to stand by the Doctor at the doors and stare.

"This is surreal…" Kagome breathed out. "And beautiful…" She looked up at the Doctor, who was gazing down at her, watching. "How—"

"Are we breathing?" the Doctor finished gently, and he looked outside the door, one hand gently tracing the doorframe. Kagome looked back outside, drawn to the sight. "It's the TARDIS. She has a force field to keep it safe, but just don't step outside," he added, grasping her arm to brace her when her foot lifted out of its own volition in the desire to go closer. "Works only a bit from the outside," he warned, "Don't want you drifting off and out of it. Wouldn't be fun."

"The TARDIS?" Kagome looked back outside, unable to tear her eyes from the glorious sight of Earth in its natural environment, with the moon to the right and a spatter of stars burning brightly in the distance. And,  _holy shit_ , was that Mars in the very back, an almost tiny little reddish dot?

The Doctor didn't answer and when she glanced at him he only winked at her before reaching over to pull the doors close. As he walked back to the console, Kagome shifted and took a moment to lean against the wall—it thrummed underneath her back, surprising her.

Curious, Kagome opened up her senses again—she had always sensed  _something_ but there was never a response, until now—and pressed a palm against the wall. Her eyes widened when a presence—warm and comforting and welcoming and bright and  _golden_ —brushed against her mind.

"So what do you say? Are you prepared to be blown away—yet  _again?_ " the Doctor asked with no small hint of cheek.

Kagome's head snapped up and she took the moment to watch him shuffle around the console. When he looked up at her he gave another little grin of his, and she let out a breathless laugh. "Seriously. How can anyone say no to that?"


	6. Misipia

_"Welcome to the kingdom of Misipia—the year 4.3/apple/X, or rather, abouuuut four billion years in your future on the planet Xecra."_

Unaware of the keen eyes that followed her every step, Kagome made her way into the street, blue eyes wide as she took in the sights.

_How to describe this?_ Kagome wondered in thinly veiled awe, turning in circles to take it all in.  _Beautiful_ was one word.  _Breathtaking_ was another.

This place… this town or village or wherever she was taken was a vibrant mix of colors. The sky was a glowing gold with wispy clouds of a darker shade. Lilac grass and trees swayed in the light, cool wind. The buildings, made of pure white stone, looked more like works of sculptured art. She was in a city, something like Tokyo with the amount of buildings, but there were towers, spiraling towers in the distance that reached for the skies, so much taller than back on Earth.

And her mind stalled at that thought—' _Back on Earth'… who would have ever thought that I'd think that?—_ and she broke out in a grin. She whirled towards the Doctor whose mouth softened, lips twitching ever so slightly at the sight of her grin.

"This," she told him with an air of decisiveness, spreading her arms out wide, "Is absolutely amazing." She turned, scanning her surroundings, devouring them with a rapt gaze. "Is this what you do, travel? Anywhere, anywhen?" she said in a breath of wonder.

The man let out an amused huff, burying his hands into the pockets of his long coat. "Not an actual word, but it'll work," and she could see him trying to hold back a smile, however small, when she stuck her tongue out at him. "As for your question, yeah. It is."

Kagome let out a thoughtful hum. "For any particular reason? Or just to… to explore and discover?"

The Doctor nodded softly, chocolate eyes flitting over the buildings, flickering to the sky. "You could say that," he murmured. "Just… to see… To live out history and discover the future." He paused for a moment to turn and peer at her, eyebrows furrowed. Just when she was about to speak up, he did so first. "You could too," he said offhandedly, glancing away, and he shrugged, adding, "Y'know, if you wanted," with an eyebrow inclined at her.

Her mouth twitched. "What, travel with you? What happened to taking me home?" The Doctor chuckled under his breath but only shook his head instead of answering. Kagome's lips curled into a delighted smile. "Oh, but you're not making it easy," she chuckled, and at his curious look she added, "To resist, I mean." Her voice dropped a notch, to a whisper. "It would be so easy to just… run away and see the stars. To see what's out there and never look back."

The Doctor gazed at her, his expression inscrutable. "Why don't you then?"

Though he tried to keep his voice neutral, Kagome could pick up a hint of  _something_. Curiosity? Maybe. His eyes, twin orbs to his soul they were, were searching her—of that she had no doubt. "Oh, I'd like to, I'd like to very much, don't get me wrong," she replied softly, "But, I made a promise."

The Doctor nodded in solemn understanding and said, "Ah."

It was all that needed to be said.

* * *

As much as Kagome wanted to charge into the unknown and explore, the Doctor snagged her by the elbow before she could get started and directed her back into the TARDIS with the advice of changing her outfit.

_"Bad enough you're decked out in formal wear from five hundred years before **your** time, but tack on a few billion?"_

_"We're on an **alien** planet…wouldn't we look out of place anyway?"_

_"Nah! You humans eventually reach to the ends of the galaxy and then some. Resilient, you lot are. Kind of like cockroaches—ow, I meant it a nice way, no need to hit me!"_

_"There isn't anything nice about being compared to a_ cockroach! _"_

_"Right, right, fine, I take it back! Honestly! In any case, this planet is home to a humanoid race—look like us for the most part, really, but with different bits in the inside. Though, you'll see other aliens that don't look like us; this is a peaceful planet open for visits—Seriza, where we are now, is a nice tourist spot to say the least. Wonderful pools—have all kinds of settings…"_

As he went on about the pools of Seriza, he led her on to the wardrobe. After a few awkward questions about just  _why_  he would own various female clothing she went to get dressed; the way she scanned him up and down sent him into a flurry of hurried explanations— _"They're not for **me**! Blimey, where'd you ever get  **that** idea?! It's the TARDIS! She takes care of it!"—_which, honestly, only set off a new round of questions that they didn't have time for.

After being directed to a section of time-appropriate clothes were hung, she realized the apparel wasn't much different in terms of style compared to that of her time, but instead in its material. In any case, she ended up in a ruffled pale blue skirt of mid-thigh length over black leggings, a black leather jacket over a v-cut shirt, and black ankle boots of a short, thick heel.

"So," Kagome hummed as she stepped out of the TARDIS, peering around. "Where to first?"

* * *

The Doctor said that the only true way to  _really_ experience the areas you travel, to experience the cultures and people, was to just jump and dive in. Talk with the locals, do a bit of shopping, haggle a little; make mistakes be it a little or a lot and learn from them. It may not be the only way, but learning and preparing beforehand took out the fun of exploring and the delight in discoveries.

After a couple of hours of exploring the marketplace, trying the food, chatting up the merchants, and discreetly marveling at the alien species that roamed among them, Kagome eventually asked the Doctor, "What's there to do in Seriza? You know, other than shopping I mean."

When she didn't get an answer, she looked over to the Doctor who didn't seem to be paying attention to her—instead, he was muttering to himself, tugging absently on his ear with a confused, thoughtful look about him as he fidgeted. "Doctor?" she said, concerned and confused herself.

He turned to her to face her, a serious look about him. "Something's… not right," he murmured. "I don't…"

The Doctor's gaze followed a couple of young aliens—they were taller than the average human, and instead of skin like theirs, the pair possessed glossy, reptilian-like skin of a beautiful bluish-green hue, as well as deep green eyes that seemed to possess an almost ethereal glow and very short talons. As they chatted not far from them the Doctor watched them, his mouth slack and head turning to follow as they passed. They were too far from Kagome to actually here, but the Doctor was obviously able to listen in and if the look on his face meant anything, he did not like what he heard. "Ah," he finally said after a moment, a weary look coming across his face. "That would explain it."

Kagome blinked at him. "Explain what?"

"Well," The Doctor drawled, turning to face her. "Those two right there? They were talking about the Queen-to-be, Farana, and her coronation that is set tomorrow."

Kagome grew tensed as the Doctor's face became serious.

"Thing is, the Queen is meant to be Farana's  _older sister_ ," he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the two aliens still walking away, "And she is apparently currently missing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I toyed with where the Doctor would take her, and in the end I just created a place of my own. He wouldn't want to visit somewhere he's been with his previous companions. After "Journey's End," I figured somewhere known to have action wouldn't appeal. I think he would just like to take her to a nice tourist spot to see the awe and excitement, to see her happy, which would make him happy in turn. I dunno, lol. But of course, with the Doctor, trouble kinda follows him, not to mention Kagome as well lol.
> 
> Anyway, thanks to all for reading! And tell me what you think! I'd love to hear your opinions! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! : ) Till next week!
> 
> RainLily^^


	7. The Palace

"So, let me get this straight," Kagome began as she strode alongside the Doctor on their way to the city's center. "We're going to the palace to do some investigating on what happened to Tarala, Misipia's true Queen?"

The Doctor simply nodded. "Yep."

She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I…" she trailed off, terribly confused.

"You're wondering why we're getting involved," the Doctor surmised, not pausing for a confirmation. "Tarala could be in serious trouble…" he pointed out and he eyed her speculatively, as if waiting. "She might need help, Kagome. Are you saying we should just stay out of it?"

Kagome stiffened, halting in place and snagging the Doctor's arm as she did so. He whirled around, his eyes widening in surprise. "Of course not!" she snapped, indignant. "I just…" She made a frustrated noise. "I'm just wondering, is this okay? I mean, it's not our time… we're not really supposed to be here, so who's to say this isn't supposed to happen, y'know? What if getting involved messes up something big in the future?"

"Oh," the Doctor muttered suddenly, blinking. "You're worried about the effects of us meddling?" he said with a touch of wonder. "Well,  _that's_  a switch."

Kagome only stared at him blankly, waiting for him to start making sense.

The Doctor chuckled and swooped low, grabbing Kagome by the shoulders. "You can relax, I'm a Time Lord—this is what I do! I know what I'm doing, so no need to worry so much."

Kagome rolled her eyes, scoffing in amusement. "So that's what being a Time Lord means? You're a professional meddler?"

The Doctor gave her a wide grin, one that was cheeky and full of teeth. "Pretty much!" he chirped, and he gave her shoulders a squeeze. "Shall we go save a queen-to-be then?"

Kagome couldn't help but return his grin with one of her own. "Why not?" she said, trying for nonchalance. "I'm on an alien planet billions of years into my future. Might as well go all out."

If it was even possible, the Doctor's grin widened and his eyes lit up. "Well then," he announced brightly as he released her shoulders. He reached out low, snagging her hand with his, and Kagome blinked in mild surprise as his long, slender fingers wrapped around her own and tugged her along. Her lips curled. "Allons-y!"

* * *

 

It didn't take them long to get an idea of what happened after a bit of questioning. After the Doctor smuggled them in with his psychic paper, claiming that they were the directors of the decoration crew, they had managed to find Tarala's younger sister in the palace gardens.

Farana, who was a sweetheart and rather young, was completely innocent in the matter of her older sister's disappearance. The only guilt she held was her own for taking her sister's place when Tarala was the one who deserved the crown.

What tipped off their suspicions was when Farana mentioned their uncle.

"Truly, I would be completely lost if it wasn't for Uncle. Tarala was always meant to become Queen—she's had all the training since she was named heir. She's had so many ideas in place, so many changes she wanted to bring to Seriza and Mispia as a whole…"

Farana let out a sad sigh. "Uncle was kind enough to step in and take the brunt of the responsibilities while I try to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, as much as I want to follow in Tarala's aspirations for Misipia, he said that the changes would be better put on hold because of the unrest my sister's disappearance has caused. Considering the changes  _are_  a bit radical, they wouldn't be well received from someone like me—someone so new and inexperienced."

"Your uncle," Kagome wondered idly, and the Doctor and Farana turned to her curiously. "Did he agree with the changes Tarala wanted to bring?"

Farana paused, biting her lip. Nervously, she tucked a stray strand of silver hair behind her ear. "Well," she murmured softly. "Not all of them," she admitted, and her voice dropped to a whisper, her purple eyes wide and round. "I love my Uncle," she told them honestly. "I never knew my father, not like Tarala, and he helped raised us since… But sometimes, I could hear them yelling from my room. I couldn't understand what they were fighting about, but I could only assume it was over the changes Tarala had planned."

At that, the Doctor's face had smoothed over to that of charming respect as he thanked Farana for her time, congratulated on her oncoming coronation, and extended his sympathies for her sister's disappearance and his hopes for her to be found soon safe and sound.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the Doctor asked Kagome as soon as they left the gardens, all but thrumming with excitement.

Kagome tried not to smile, but his excitement was contagious. "A certain someone wasn't happy with Tarala's plans and decided to replace her with someone more compliant?"

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly. Their uncle, Vincent, had been Tarala's regent since his sister had died, oh, about nearly a decade ago I believe."

Kagome shook her head, seeing where he was going with this. "Perhaps he's gotten a bit too cozy with ruling. It's a bit cliché but…" she trailed off and shrugged.

The Doctor snorted. "But it fits. And when he realized that Tarala wouldn't be agreeing with his views, he decided to replace her with Farana. Without Tarala's training, and the fact that he's raised her, of course she'd trust him implicitly with his guidance on how to rule!"

"But where could Tarala be?" Kagome wondered, and her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "You don't think Vincent killed her or something?"

The Doctor grimaced at the thought. "Maybe not—well," he amended, "Hopefully not anyway. I've heard that since their father's death, he's taken the princesses under his wing. He seems to care, so maybe he just spirited her away." The somber look passed as his eyes lit up. "And, well, this is a  _palace_. I'd bet there's plenty of hidden nooks and crannies around here. Perhaps even a secret wing or two?" He waggled his eyebrows and nudged at her arm. "Care to do some snooping?"

Kagome rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless.

* * *

The Doctor was right. The palace  _did_ have a lot of hidden nooks and crannies, and even a secret passage way that led to a hidden wing of rooms.

The palace had a secret dungeon as well, which they soon found out upon stumbling onto the kidnapped Princess Tarala.

The discovery would have been much more pleasant if not for the fact they also stumbled across Tarala's small contingent of guards.

"Does this happen often?" Kagome drawled, her tone witheringly dry. "Tossed into prison?"

The Doctor wouldn't meet her gaze; instead, he answered with a sheepish giggle. "Weeell," he drew out, "How often is often  _really?_ " he evaded.

Kagome snorted, shaking her head. "I'll take that as a yes, then." Crossing her arms, she leaned against the rough concrete wall. She could hear the man in the cell beside her fidget nervously, and she glanced over to see him staring at her, uncertain and waiting.

Her lips twitched and she bit her lip to refrain from smiling—the Doctor's body relax in response and his lips pursed.

Together, they broke out in grins and started sniggering.

"Oh my  _God,_ " Kagome mumbled, breathless from laughing. "I'm in the year four billion, on an alien planet called Xecra, where the sky is gold and the dirt is blue, sitting in prison for trying to prevent a coup!" She shook her head, eyes alight with wonder. "This one's for the books, that's for sure."

The Doctor tried to fight a grin. "Well—"

His reply was cut short by the door swinging open, and in strode Misipia's regent and the princesses' uncle. The Doctor's grin faltered.

"Having fun?" the man drawled when he saw their grins, pausing before the cells. "Might as well," he mused with a shrug. Then, an oddly somber look crossed his face. "Don't worry," Vincent murmured, smiling sadly. "You won't have to stay for long. Just long enough for Farana to be crowned, and then, no one will ever know that you've been here."

Kagome stood. "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, voice sharp.

"It means you never should have come here, asking questions and sneaking around where you don't  _belong_ ," he snapped, straightening as his face took a hard edge. "I don't know how you got in, in the first place, but it just goes to show how weak we're becoming in the face of peace." Vincent let out a derisive scoff. "The kingdom's becoming soft and spoiled after all these years, and look how far our security has fallen. It's just a matter of time before someone takes advantage and starts another war."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "All this paranoia about a war, if one does come, you'll be the one to start it," he remarked darkly, lips turned down into a fierce frown. "Seems to me you're just getting ready to pull the trigger, and you'll be happy to do so when any little old reason comes on by."

The regent, Vincent, glared and opened his mouth but Kagome cut in before he could get another word in edgewise. "What's going to happen to Talara?" She stepped closer to the cell bars, staring hard at the man with her hands propped on her hips. "Are you going to kill her too, assuming that's what you're going to do to us once Farana's safely crowned?"

Vincent stiffened, shooting her an offended look. "Of course not!" he exclaimed. "Despite our disagreements, she's still my niece. She's still my sister's daughter. I would never lay hand on her."

"No, you'll just kidnap her and lock her up because she's acting out against your plans," the Doctor remarked snidely.

Vincent's lips thinned. "Yes," he said, with only a hint of shame and regret. "I do not like it, but the kingdom's safety is more important. She may not have a comfortable lifestyle, but she will have a life—outside Seriza and heavily guarded. It's not pleasant, but there's no other choice."

"There's always another choice!" the Doctor burst out, jumping to his feet. He strode right over to the cell door, stopping right before the regent, glaring down his nose at the other man with only the bars between them. "She's meant to lead this kingdom into prosperity and greatness! You'll be preventing the greatest era Misipia will have ever seen!"

"With her ideas, she'll only lead it into ruin!" Vincent shouted, a palm shooting out to slam against the cell door. It rattled loudly, making Kagome stiffen and fall back into a defensive stance out of reflex, but the Doctor was unfazed. The regent forcibly calmed himself, taking a step back, and he let out a weary sigh as he stared at them. "There's no point in arguing with those who have no understanding of what they are talking about. You two will stay in here until the end of the week."

Shaking his head, he stepped away and made to leave. Before he left however, he paused at the door to look back at them. "I do not believe in unnecessary cruelty, so you will be well-fed and allowed certain necessities. I wish this didn't have to end in death, but there is no other way."

And with that, the door slammed with a sound of finality that did not sit well with either of their stomachs.


	8. Jail-time Chats

The next couple of days passed with boredom and only stories to pass the time as they tried to figure out a way out of their situation.

"If worse comes to worse," Kagome murmured, curled up on the ground as she leaned against the stone wall. "I can try to take out the guards when I ask for a restroom break."

The Doctor didn't answer her at first, and she turned to see him staring down at her with a pained expression on his face. She straightened unconsciously, concerned. "I never should have taken you here," the Doctor muttered darkly and he gave a sharp shake of his head. "Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should have known better, really. This  _always_ happens."

Alarmed, Kagome scampered over to put herself in front of him, and she slipped her hands through the bars and grasped his shoulders to hold him still. "Whoa, pause for a minute.  _What_  are you going on about?"

The Doctor stopped short, and he looked down at her with a look so full of sorrow and earnest regret that it sent a pang to her heart. "Oh, Kagome, I am  _so sorry_."

Kagome's eyes flew wide open. "Okay, whoa, stop that. Explain, because you are not making  _any_ sense and frankly it's scaring me a bit."

The Doctor looked away, taking a shuddering breath. "This always happens. One way or another," he said, his voice hoarse. "I indulge myself and take a companion to see the universe, the stars and the planets out there, and it always end the same… Dead, hurt, changed—it doesn't matter, I always lose them." He brought his hands to his head, clutching—fingers threading through his short, spiky locks, digging into his scalp.

Kagome said nothing, breath stolen as the words tumbled from his mouth like a confession. She didn't even  _know_  what to say, so she stayed silent, letting him finish,

His voice dropped into a hiss. "I should have taken you back to the Feudal Era like you asked—you have enough to worry about with that artifact of yours, without me adding to your responsibilities." His hands fell into his lap; he shook his head. "I just… couldn't help myself."

Kagome's breath hitched. Stepping back from him, she stared him with widened eyes. "You… you  _know?_ "

The Doctor didn't look at her; he only waved his hand at her and her aghast tone. "Oh, I already worked out who you were a while back," he said, as if it wasn't big news. "Shikon Miko, time-traveler, meant to fight the half-demon Naraku over the Shikon no Tama."

Kagome went still, the blood in her veins freezing.

"And there's no point in asking me if you've won or not," the Doctor added, as if in an afterthought. "Because time is relative. Until it happens to you personally, it can always change."

Kagome took a moment to fully process his words, and after a moment of heavy silence, she finally broke it. "I wasn't going to ask. I… I don't really want to know," she told him in a hushed breath. "Either we lose and I know that I'm walking to my death as well as those of my friends, or we win and I have to deal with the pressure of it while hoping I don't screw something up."

The Doctor looked up at her, brown eyes dark and soulful and  _hurting_. "I was hoping," he confessed, "That taking someone like you, more prepared, it wouldn't end so badly. It was too tempting not to and I had to take a chance. I was just too selfish to ignore it. And now it'll be my fault for what happens then if I don't get you back."

"Oh my God," Kagome finally snapped, causing the Doctor's eyes to widen and his eyebrows to shoot up. She stared at him through defiant, narrowed eyes, hands propped on her hips. "Will you stop it—stop  _blaming_ yourself for what's happened?"

At that, the Doctor's face darkened, lips thinning and pulled tight. He opened his mouth to retort, but Kagome beat him to it.

"You were lonely." The Doctor froze, mouth still parted. "I could  _see_  it in your eyes—you've lived hundreds of years, people passing through in a blink of an eye, but no one ever staying," Kagome went on, ignorant to how the Doctor seemed to withdraw within himself as each and every word struck home. "They can't. And you've known hardship and loss, you've taken lives, and you wear the blame like—like some  _obligation_! Take a pill and  _get over yourself._ You're not to blame for every bad thing that's happened. They weren't your responsibility, they were consenting  _adults_." She turned on him, glaring, as if daring to contradict her. "Just like  _I_ am. I could've said no, but I  _didn't_."

No matter how much the Doctor wanted to accept her words as truth, to let them sooth the guilt, he just couldn't. "You don't know. I'm older—I've lived so long, I  _should_  have known better. To me, you all might as well be children!"

Her lips twisted in a scowl that could only be described as furious. "Oh, so you're smarter? You're wiser and more powerful, just because you're older? Just because we're human and  _you're_  not?" she hissed, and then her eyes widened in astonished realization.

She took a step back, an incredulous, bitter laugh spilling forth and the Doctor's eyebrows snapped together, a little alarmed. " _Oh my God_ , you're  _just_  like him!" she exclaimed, and the Doctor knew she was talking about that best friend of hers—the one that sent her away; the one who, unknowingly, sent her to him. "Us puny little humans just can't think for ourselves, can we? So you've got to send us off, because you  _know_   _better_ ," she said, words dripping with sarcasm and disdain as she threw her hands up in frustration. "And that arrogance of yours has you blind to the fact that it's  _not your decision to make!_ "

And through the course of this shout, the Doctor watched, his eyes growing sadder and widening with each word. "Perhaps he's not blind," he interjected when he saw his chance. "Perhaps…" he trailed off, voice dropping to a whisper. "Perhaps he just wants to protect you." He didn't know whether they were talking about her friend, himself, or both—and he wasn't sure Kagome knew either.

Kagome whirled on him, clutching at the bars that separated them, grip tight and white-knuckled as she snapped. "Oh, and what would you know! He's done this before, and it never works. He needs me— _they_  need me. Oh, he may be stronger, he may think he knows more than I do, but it  _isn't_  his choice! It's  _my_  choice because it's  _my_  fault and if it wasn't for me  _no one_  would have died or gotten hurt and this is the  _only_  way I can make up for it!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "So you're paying penance, then?" he mused quietly, and  _oh_ , that had a hurtful pang of familiarity to it. "Is that it?"

Kagome froze, the fire of fury boiling within her burning out in a wink, and she sagged to her knees. "No," she murmured. "Not just that. It's about doing what's right, and it wouldn't be right to let them fight and risk their lives while I get to be excused from the danger when  _I_  was the one who brought destruction to their era in the first place. I need to do what I can to help them, to save them, to prevent as many deaths as I can." She took a slow, steadying breath. "Because I  _can_ do it. I have the ability to do the right thing, so I just can't just  _sit back_ and  _watch_."

The Doctor looked to the ground, folding his hands into his lap, both unable and unwilling to argue after that.

Kagome shook her head suddenly, huffing under her breath in wry amusement. "Why are we talking about me? We were talking about you," she muttered. She peered up and their eyes locked. "Answer me this, Doctor?"

Warily, he peered up at her and nodded. "Yes?"

"Did they know this was dangerous? Your companions?" she asked, her voice back to the gentle tone she had used on him in the beginning. "Did they know there were risks? That travelling time and space with you wasn't all fun and games?"

The Doctor looked away. A frown was fixed on his lips, as if he didn't want to admit it. But, faced against Kagome's expectant silence he eventually gave his answer, albeit in resignation. "Yes, they did."

"At the very least, did you try your hardest to make sure they were safe?"

The Doctor sighed, but he nodded nonetheless.

Kagome reached through to grab the Doctor's shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze. "Then you did your best, and face it, that's all you  _can_ do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I both hated and loved this. It was honestly a pain to write out the argument, and all the angst, or at least at first anyway. Then it all just started spilling over, and I had to watch myself lol. I just hope it wasn't too much. Writing intentional angst isn't my forte—any angst I usually write is usually purely accidental, haha.
> 
> Well, in any case, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Your thoughts?


	9. Jailbreak

The Doctor looked up, his eyes dark and his expression open and vulnerable. "That sounds so… easy," he said, his voice a weak whisper. "Too easy."

Kagome shrugged. "That's life. You live. You make regrets. You learn from them and try your hardest not to repeat them. Sometimes you succeed. Sometimes, you fail. You'll grieve and have regrets, but you can't let them tie you down and hold you back forever." She peered up at him, right into his eyes, her voice softening. "You… you have to move on."

The Doctor let out a long breath. "Okay."

Kagome blinked and her head gave a tilt. "Okay?" she repeated, slow and a tad suspicious. "Just like that?"

The brunet nodded, lips twitching up into a grin. "Okay. Just like that." At Kagome's skeptical look, he chuckled. "Well, I'll try, how about that?"

The miko snorted, her own lips curling into a small smile. "I guess that's all I can ask."

The Doctor gave a decisive nod. "Just like you'll try as well to not take on all the blame for the destruction that followed the Shikon being shattered, yes?"

Kagome stiffened and opened her mouth to argue but the Doctor held up a finger and cheekily wagged it in front of her face. Her mouth clicked shut as she glared at the offending digit.

"See, if I know my history, and  _oh_ , I do," he said smugly, pointedly ignoring the way Kagome's eyes rolled at him, "You were  _dragged_ down the well by a demon—you, an unsuspecting human with no prior knowledge or experience with demons—into another time, where the jewel was rather violently torn from your side, correct?"

Crossing her arms, Kagome grudgingly nodded.

The Doctor allowed himself a satisfied smile. "And when a demon tried to fly off with the whole Shikon, you tried to shoot an arrow to spot it from wreaking  _who knows_ what kind of havoc. Since I doubt you were an expert markswoman, I'm betting you not only hitting the jewel but doing so in the right spot to send it shattering was a complete accident." He paused to send her a stern look. "Now, I don't know where you got the idea that the jewel shattering and therefore the deaths that followed are for you to blame, but it's not."

Kagome shook her head. "I still have to make it right, though," she argued softly. "I want to make it right, because I just know I can help."

"And that's fine," the Doctor replied, his tone softer and kinder now. "But the deaths that  _other_  people,  _bad_ people, caused with the shards of that jewel aren't your fault. Just like you said that my companions' misfortunes are not mine," he reminded her.

Kagome's pursed her lips at him using her words against her. "That's just low," she said under her breath.

"Hey," the Doctor said, his tone warning, yet teasing. "I'll try if you try?" he suggested with a hopeful expression.

Kagome sent him a look through squinted eyes, but in the end, she gave a soft nod. "Yeah, okay."

The Doctor beamed. "Okay then!"

Snorting, Kagome rolled her eyes as she peered up at him. "We still need to figure a way out, you know."

The Doctor pouted at the reminder. Taking a moment to think of something, he scratched his cheek and grimaced sheepishly. "You said something about taking out the guards?"

* * *

The plan was to try an escape late next night, when the guards on shift were least expecting it and the dark outside would help slipping away when, or rather  _if_ , they made it out. Considering she was only ever given one escort instead of two like the Doctor, Kagome would call out and ask for a break, and the moment she would be released she would knock her escort out, take the key, and break them out.

From then on out, they would just wing it and see how it went.

However, an unexpected visitor an hour before they were to try it threw those plans out the window.

They were back to back against the cell bars when the pair heard the creak, and they both tensed and looked up to see a portion of the wall swing inwards.

Through the flickering light of the electrical lanterns fixed on either side of the room, silver glinted as someone darted through the room, the wall swinging shut from behind.

The Doctor's eyes widened in recognition. "Farana?" he asked, shocked as Farana, in attire not typical of someone of her position—dark jeans and a form-fitting black overcoat—silently jogged in. "What-?"

Farana hushed him as she hurried to the cells. "Shh, please, the guards—they're right outside and I'm not supposed to be here," she said quietly as she rummaged inside her coat pockets.

Both their eyebrows kicked up in surprise when she pulled out a couple of lock picks and started on the lock to Kagome's door.

"What  _are_ you doing here?" Kagome asked when the surprise finally passed.

Farana paused just long enough to give a sheepish cringe. "Well, when you asked those questions…" she trailed off, and she shrugged. "For all our kingdom's boons, there's plenty of room for improvement—especially outside the walls of Seriza. That's where Tarala wants to focus—she wants to improve the education for our children  _throughout_ the kingdom; she wants to minimalize the societal gap between classes. We're self-sufficient and productive and there should not be children in our kingdom that are poor, starving, and homeless. Yet, there  _are_ ," she told them, lips thin and eyes flashing as each word that she spoke grew in quiet intensity. "We're in  _peace_ , have been for over a decade, so it's  _past_  the time to focus on improving more on our infrastructure rather than maintain our armies and our borders."

Farana heaved out a frustrated sigh, the flare of the fire burning behind her eyes calming. "Your questions aroused some suspicions of my own. My sister—she has plenty of supporters and very few opposers. Truly, my Uncle is one, especially at her idea of talking about a treaty with Tesipia, our neighboring kingdom with whom we had warred with long ago. She would take the King's younger brother as a husband, work out a trade agreement, and ensure an open border and peace for years to come."

She shook her head and began working on the lock once again. "I heard some guards talk about a couple of prisoners, and that they were to be 'dealt with' after my coronation. We haven't had a public execution in years, and now we have one in secret? After my coronation?" Farana gave a scoff, shaking her head. "Something wasn't right and the only one who could order such a thing is my uncle. I connected the dots."

Farana's lips pursed, eyes crinkling wryly as she worked. "I've lived in this palace since birth, and I used to be a curious child—used to get in trouble a lot, actually. Uncle isn't the only one who knows about the secrets halls and rooms throughout this palace. I explored and picked up a few tricks that would make mother proud."

She grinned lightly as the lock clicked and the cell door swung opened. In a smooth, graceful movement, she straightened and smoothed out her coat. "Picking locks is one of them, courtesy of a very good friend of mine."

"Well," the Doctor said, grinning as she moved to unlock his cell next. "They certainly sound like a keeper.

To their amusement, Farana blushed. "He really is," she murmured softly as the lock clicked. Straightening, she stepped back as his cell door swung open as well.

As the pair shared an amused look, and Farana made a noise of realization. "Oh, I managed to grab this," she mumbled, digging into the inside of her overcoat and pulling out the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. "It looked important and the guards were making a bit of a commotion about it earlier, wondering what it was."

"It is," the Doctor told her, gratitude coloring his tone. He took the screwdriver, tucking into his coat pocket before taking Farana's hands. "You were wrong," he told her gently. "You would have made a great, wise Queen. And so very kind."

Farana smiled softly. "Maybe so, but not nearly as great as my sister. That is her destiny. Mine has yet to be seen."

"Oh," the Doctor murmured, a little grin playing at his lips. "Maybe not, but your destiny  _will_ be just as great as your sisters, if not more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like things are wrapping up guys :/ Just two more chapters to go.  
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this! And don't forget to tell me what you think! ^^


	10. Goodbyes and Farewells

"Escaped execution, saved a Queen-to-be, deposed an evil regent—sounds like a fairy tale," Kagome mused once they were back on the TARDIS.

The Doctor chuckled as he tossed his overcoat onto one of the coral struts. "Not bad for a day's work, eh?"

Kagome grinned as she shrugged off her own coat. "Not bad," she agreed.

The Doctor strode over to the console while Kagome headed over to the jump seat, fingers tracing at the edges as he gazed at the time rotor of his beloved ship. He reached out, fingers curling around a lever, before pausing to pull it. After a moment, he finally spoke. "You… wouldn't want another trip, would you?" the Doctor asked, his offer hesitant. "Something a little less, well, life-threatening?" His smile was sheepish when he finally glanced over at her.

At his question, Kagome had looked up, hands frozen in the air and fingers tightening into the coat she was just about to toss over the railing. When a sad look crossed her face the Doctor sighed. "No, I guess not. Probably a bad idea…" he muttered, shuffling in his spot.

Kagome offered a wistful smile. "I wish I could," she confessed, casting her gaze to the floor, and the Doctor could tell that she really did. "But you said it yourself—time is relative. And if I go, I might not come back. I might not be able to or I'll just keep going and going and I'll be too old to go back and finish what I started. I'll end up regretting coming, and I wouldn't want that," she murmured, tone gentle and somber, and when she looked up at him once more her smile was regretful. "And, I really can't abandon my friends like that."

The Doctor returned her smile with a small, sad one of his own. "I guess you're right," he murmured, and he made a face, breaking the gloomy atmosphere. "Ugh, responsibilities. Leaves a bad taste in one's mouth, it does."

Kagome laughed lightly at that, grinning.

"So," the Doctor said, mustering up a small grin of his own. "Ready to go back to Edo, 1502, Japan's Feudal Era?"

Kagome paused, biting her lip as she peered up at him. "Actually, can we make another stop first?" she asked. At his raised eyebrows, she added, "To 2002? The Higurashi Shrine in Tokyo?" She fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "It's just, I want to see my Mama and my little brother and Gramps. It's kind of been a while, and I don't know when I'll be able to see them after that."

The Doctor smiled softly. "I can do that," he acquiesced. "Higurashi Shine in Tokyo, Japan, Earth 2002, here we come."

* * *

They had barely made their way down the path to Edo when someone called out.

" _Kagome?!_ " came Inuyasha's incredulous and furious voice. They looked over to see a red and silver form sailing at them through the air, landing right in front of them. His golden eyes were flashing, and he was scowling heavily at her. "What the fuck are you doing here? I sent you back without the shards—how in the hell did you get back?"

"Oi!" the Doctor shouted, jumping and leveling a finger as Inuyasha turned to him, eyes blazing. "That's not a nice thing to say—that's  _rude_."

It had Kagome snorting and muttering under her breath. " _Pot, meet kettle,_ " to which the Doctor heard and pouted a bit.

"Well, at least I'm not  _mean_ to boot!" he exclaimed, whirling on her.

Shaking his head, Inuyasha glared. "And who the hell are you?"

Not even  _remotely_  one to back down, the Doctor took a big step forward and placed himself in Inuyasha's personal bubble, bellowing with even more velocity than the half-demon. "Who the hell are  _you_?"

Inuyasha's jaw clenched, his hands tightening around his sword. "Are you mocking me?" he hissed, baring his fangs.

The answer was obvious when the Doctor bared his teeth as well. "I don't know, am I?" he asked, before taking a pinky and picking at something in between his teeth.

It left Inuyasha speechless as his mouth worked open and closed angrily, unable to articulate a response.

The Time Lord suddenly perked up. "I am the Doctor," he announced, or rather, cheerfully chirped.

"'The doctor'?" Inuyasha repeated flatly, and he turned to Kagome, demanding. "You mean like them humans back in your time? Those healers?"

Kagome snorted at the thought of the Doctor stuck in some stuffy hospital treating stuff like the flu. The Doctor flashed her a cheeky grin, as if he knew what she was thinking. "No, nothing like that really. It's his name." Her eyes narrowed as she took a threatening stop towards her so-called best friend, glaring. "We met right after  _you_ ," she poked him harshly in the shoulder,"So kindly shoved me  _down_   _the_   _well_."

The Doctor winced as her voice dropped to a low and decidedly  _not happy_ tone.

Inuyasha had the decency to flinch guiltily at that, a remorseful expression flashing across his face and his ears flattening against his skull. It made Kagome forgive him just a  _little_ , but she sure was still going to give him hell for what he did.

And,  _oh,_  was she going to give him hell.

Meanwhile, the Doctor shrugged and gently interjected, trying to lighten the atmosphere and calm her a little. "Not that I don't know my way around basic healing, of course," he reminded her.

Kagome straightened, stepping away from Inuyasha to smirk at the Time Lord. "Of course," Kagome replied mockingly.

Inuyasha was looking between the two, eyeing them suspiciously. "I thought you said you only just met him after you left, Kagome?" Inuyasha remarked, his eyes narrowed. "You seem pretty chummy for some human you just met."

Kagome shrugged. "It's only been a few days for you, Inuyasha, but it's been nearly a couple of weeks for me. The Doctor… he has a time travelling ship, kinda like the well, but he's not restricted to one point in time. He can go anywhere, or rather, anywhen."

"Not a word!" the Doctor commented in a sing-sung voice, to which Kagome answered promptly but teasingly.

"Bite me."

* * *

It was hard saying goodbye.

But, the Doctor figured it always would be that way. At least this way, they weren't saying goodbye because of something bad that had happened—like with Rose, both times, the first when they were forced apart and the last when he left her with his metacrisis in another parallel world; like with Martha, when she had to get out, after travelling the world for him to save it from the Master; like with Donna, when he had to walk away from his best friend, the most important woman in the universe who had not one single memory of it or the adventures they had shared.

He had to say goodbye to Kagome, not because they wanted to, but because they had to—because Kagome couldn't, not in good conscience, travel with him with the unfinished Shikon dangling over her head—no matter how much either of them would like to travel together.

"Just keep going, all right?" Kagome whispered as she gave him a tight hug. "Stop blaming yourself, you can't keep doing that or it'll just make you bitter and drive you insane, and I don't want you to  _ever_  go down that path."

The Doctor smiled to himself as he returned the embrace, one lanky arm wrapping around her back to rest a hand on her waist and the other across her shoulder blades. He threaded his fingers through her long, dark locks, thumb sweeping gently across the nape of her neck. "We'll see," he murmured in return, his tone gentle. "And good luck. Don't you dare give up; this'll be over before you know it and you'll pull through. You're too tough for you not to—and oh,  _so_  very brilliant."

"We'll see," she said, parroting his words back to him, and his lips twitched as he shook his head at her. "Goodbye, Doctor," she said as she pulled away and she flashed him a smile and a wink. "I hope you have a  _great_  life."

The Doctor stared down at her and before she knew it, he was leaning down and there was a pair of warm lips pressed against the curve of her right cheek. She could only blink, her breath hitching as the breath of his whisper brushed against her ear and his hand reached down to give a gentle squeeze to her own. "

See you later, Kagome," he told her, gentle and slow as their eyes locking for a split-second before he pulled away. And then he was leaving and all she saw was him walking away.

She lingered, wanting to watch him, watch the TARDIS, leave. So she watched as he made his way across the field, past the well, before stopping before his amazing blue box of a ship. He paused, hesitating with his hand on the handle, and for a moment, she thought he would turn and look back for one last glance.

He did.

Kagome smiled widely, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes as she lifted a hand in farewell.

His lips curled, the skin around his brown eyes crinkling along with the tip of his nose, teeth flashing at her in a small grin. He gave her a nod before he pushed open the TARDIS doors and swept inside, blue panels closing behind him.

Mere moments later, wheezing echoed as the TARDIS grinded to life. A tear trailed down Kagome's cheek as she watched the ship fade away to who knows where or when in the universe.

When the TARDIS finally disappeared, she lingered for just a moment longer before turning and walking back down to Edo where her friends were waiting.

They still had a quest to complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, this could be the end if you wanted it to be and if you're happy with the story ending there. But there's still an epilogue left if that's not the case, which I hope won't ruin anything. It really shouldn't, but that's just my biased opinion lol.
> 
> Well, what did you guys think? Hope you all enjoyed it!


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys, I really hope you enjoyed this story! Read, review, and as always, enjoy!

When all was said and done, Kagome trekked down the path that led to the well one last time. Her time in the Feudal Era had come to pass. According to Midoriko, whose spirit had briefly appeared after the Shikon was complete and before it returned to Kagome's body, the well was only good for one more trip.

After a lot of thinking, she realized she didn't really belong here; though, if she was to be honest to herself, she didn't really belong back home either—not any more than she did here.

However… her family was home, and if she was to be stuck to remain in one place or the other, she would have to choose her family.

Sango and Miroku would miss her dearly, that much she was certain, but they had each other and soon they would have a family of their own.

Inuyasha… Oh, she would miss her best friend, but she knew he would be all right. She didn't miss the lingering looks and the red ears as a certain woman from the village passed by him. He'd be fine, and who knew, perhaps he'll live to her time and she'll see him there?

And Shippo… Leaving him was honestly the hardest part in her decision. She loved him like a younger brother—like a son, even. For a moment, she toyed with the thought of staying but he was, surprisingly, the voice of reason and rationality.

" _As much as I want you to stay,"_ he had told her, tears in his eyes and trailing down his cheeks, " _I don't think you'll be happy here, Kagome, not really. I'll be okay, honest. After Sango and Miroku rebuild her village, I think I'll go to the Academy soon, continue my training. I mean, I'll miss you like crazy but I don't want you to stay for me. If you're going to stay, stay for yourself."_

The fact that Shippo, her little Shippo, had grew up to be so mature to actually  _tell_ her that… She knew he'd be fine.

Just then, the well was in sight. Tears collected in the corner of her eyes as she approached, pausing at its side. She stared at the worn, chipped wood of the rim and she traced it fondly. Sniffling with a little sad smile on her face, she breathed out a sigh. "I'll miss this place…" she murmured to herself.

"But, what if you didn't have to?"

Kagome froze, instantly recognizing the voice that had called out to her. Blinking away at the tears in her eyes, she slowly turned just in time to see a tall, lanky man dressed up in a pinstriped suit and an overcoat step out from the shadows of the foliage at the side of the clearing.

Kagome exhaled sharply, feeling numb. The strap of her pack, which she was holding in her hand, slipped from her now slack fingers. It was the loud thump as it hit the ground the jolted out of her shock. "Doctor?"

The man gave her a wide, wild grin and wagged his eyebrows. "Hello!" he greeted, raising his hand and wiggling his fingers at her.

"How did—" Kagome cut herself short with a shake of her head, her lips curled in a bemused smile. "Right, no, stupid question.  _Why?_ "

The Doctor shrugged, slinging his hands into the pockets of his coat as he strolled on over. "Oooh, well, why does anyone do anything really?" When he realized that his answer wasn't going to work by the look of her face, he chuckled. "Well, if you wanted me to be  _honest_ ," he went on in a playfully exasperated tone. "I thought, what a pity you didn't drop in when life was a  _little_  less hectic and you  _didn't_  have a megalomaniac bent on world domination dangling over your conscious." His lips quirked and he winked at her. "Then I just thought to myself, why not? So I skipped ahead."

"You skipped ahead," Kagome repeated in a slow, blank tone. A noise of disbelief passed through her lips. "How long has it been?"

"For me?" The Doctor's lips twitched. "Honestly? It's only been about, oooh, I dunno, a little under a week maybe?" He arched an eyebrow at her. "Want a lift back home? To your family? I'd imagine you're eager to see them to tell them the good news…"

Languidly, Kagome reached down to snag the strap of her pack and slung it over her shoulder, never tearing her eyes off him. She lifted an eyebrow. "And after that?"

The Doctor gave her a little grin.

* * *

"I once knew a princess in Germany with very long blonde hair, a serving girl in France who's missing glass slipper got her hitched to royalty, and an Italian noble lady who's step-mother was jealous of her looks—had to save  _her_  from a greedy huntsman."

For a moment, her mouth was opened in a perfect, small circle and her eyes were widened in awe. Until she blinked, that is. "Wait a second..." she muttered, her expression quick to becoming offended. She planted her hands on her hips and fixed him with a narrow-eyed stare. "Those are just  _fairy tales!_ "

The Doctor just grinned. "Well, all tales are based  _somewhat_ in truth. I mean, the authors had to get their inspiration from  _somewhere_ , hmm...? How else could someone write about something so fantastical, if it wasn't already experienced?"

"So you're saying the Grimm fairy tales are true? What about mermaids then—and Alice? Granted different authors but..."

The Doctor's lips twisted into a smirk. "You've seen demons. You've seen aliens. You're standing in a  _ship_  that can travel through  _space_ ,  _time_  , and  _dimensions_  with a 900 plus  _Time Lord alien_  right before your eyes, and you're drawing the line at  _mermaids_  of all things?" he deadpanned, a teasing glint to his eyes.

Kagome let out a little laugh. "Well, when you put it like  _that..._ " she said, trailing off looking a little bit sheepish.

His grin widened as he spread out his arms in an all-encompassing gesture at the TARDIS' inside. "So Miss Higurashi," he began playfully, "Will you join me?"

Kagome took a moment to pretend to think it over, to which the Doctor used to wiggle his eyebrows at her and dangle his words like one would with bait to a fish. "You can choose when and where we go next. We can watch as history is written before our eyes—Ancient Greece or Rome—or jump to take a peek at the future. Or, I could surprise you—I  _am_  rather good at that." He winked at her before settling back against the console. "Your choice."

Kagome bit her lip before breaking out into a small grin. "Well, now how could  _anyone_  say no to an offer like that?"

The Doctor returned it with a bright, eager smile that could rival the sun. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" He whirled around and threw up a switch before moving on to a keyboard, fingers flying across the keys. "Where would you like to go, then? When? What do you want to see?"

Tracing the edge of the console, she winked back at the Doctor. "Surprise me. It's our first trip as official time skipping deviants. It's only fitting, right?"

"Oh, I know  _just_  the thing." The Doctor grinned at her and pulled down a lever. Grinding filled their ears as the Time Rotor churned. "Allons-y!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there ends that. I'm kinda really sad that it's ended, but on the other hand this is like the first actual long-ish, non-one-shot story I've actually finished. It makes me feel accomplished, heehee.
> 
> Though, I won't go as far as to actually say the story of Kagome and the Doctor and their adventures has actually ended per say. It is entirely in the realm of possibility that I will, in the future (be it near or distant), come back and post something like a sequel. However, I kind of doubt it would be something like this—an actual multi-chapter story. I'm toying with the idea of doing various one-shots, or two or three-shots, since I don't have an idea for a plot that calls for a lengthy sequel. But hey, who knows.
> 
> Anyways, thanks to all of you who have stuck with me and read, reviewed, and favorited this story. Thank you so, so much. I loved writing this story and hearing what you guys thought of it really makes me happy. I appreciated all of the lovely and frankly awesome comments, you guys are great!
> 
> And a big, big thanks to ArmyWife22079, for being an awesome friend, an amazing beta, and of course, for giving me this challenge in the first place. No, really, the fact that you gave the challenge in the first place is probably why I actually finally finished a story haha. I hope you enjoyed your story ;) Also, credit goes to her for writing the second scene about the fairytales with me during one of our rounds of fic tennis texting. Love yah, hon!
> 
> Till next time, guys!
> 
> -RainLily^^


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